counting down to drink & draw

gratuitous photo of my knitting project 

i don't think i've been this excited about a social event since the very first blog camp. tomorrow, five fabulous women will come to our home. i have a long list of food that i'm going to be cooking for them pretty much all day tomorrow (think loads of tapas-agtig (that's one of those endings that's better in danish) appetizers). i've switched furniture around and arranged and made the house look as welcoming as it's going to look. i will have a vacuuming frenzy tomorrow morning. we'll eat good food together, drink some wine (i also made a batch of tonic, so we'll start with gin & tonics, as one does) and we'll draw together. i've asked everyone to bring their favorite drawing materials, whatever they are - ink, pencil, pastels, paper, notebooks, big drawing pads - and we'll laugh and create and eat and drink and laugh some more together. 

i'm going to do the torso project in a few weeks with these same women. they're creative, they're interesting, they're smart, they're funny, they read, they have different views on the world. and i can't wait to spend tomorrow evening with them.

* * *

could this actually make me start running again?
(maybe when the weather improves.)

* * *

this made me both laugh and squirm.

thinking about...

eating local.
very local. as in from our own henhouse.
and spoons stolen collected from airlines in another lifetime.
designer ones, by georg jensen, of course (it was SAS after all).

people who tell lies.

about obvious things that will easily be found out.

why do they do that?

what drives them?

even when they must know they'll be exposed?

is it insecurity?

a psychosis?

obliviousness?

or nothing at all.

it's something i just don't understand.

artist collectives.
hanging out with creative people.
i need more of that.
i've not sewn anything other than patches on husband's work jeans in ages.
how is it that i let myself forget how important that is to the well-being of my soul?

worldwide photo walk day october 13.

i just got approved to lead a walk in my town.

now i've just got to get the details of my walk up on the site.

an old friend.

i wish i lived closer to her.

i'd do something nice for her.

just because she deserves it.

even tho' she's feeling like she doesn't.

a headache that lasted two days.

those are no fun.

i blame a big shift in the weather.

that'll do it to me every time.

it's the barometric pressure.

using a purring cat as a pillow can actually provide relief.

for a few minutes at least.

but going to bed early

and avoiding carbs

are really the best things.

what are you thinking about today?

an outdoor art gallery

Væksttræet (The Tree of Growth) by Lithuanian artist Zilvinas P. Augustenas

Stjernekigger (Stargazer) by Japanese artist Koichi Ichiwata

Fragment by Erling Janum

Hjertekammer (Heart Chamber) by Niels Pedersen

Madonna by Liné Ringtved Thordarson

Selvomsorg (Self Sympathy) by Liné Ringtved Thordarson

Tanker (Thoughts) by Thomas Højsholm

Sky Boat by Bo Karberg

Give, the little town where i live (yes, i live in a town called give), is an outdoor art gallery, featuring 60 sculptures, which are placed all around the town. most of them are for sale, tho' some have become so loved by those who saw them regularly that they were purchased by groups or individuals in order to keep them here. i went on a guided tour yesterday, which was wonderful!  our guide was most knowledgable and enthusiastic.

tho' i think in many ways, art is what you make of it yourself, in your own head and heart, it brought the works alive for me to hear the stories behind their creation and go a little bit deeper into their intended meanings.  i'll be sharing more photos over the next few days.

when you put ideas into the world, magic happens

when you start something, it begins with a few who are interested.

then it grows, as they invite their friends.

and who knows what it will become?

i am grateful for this evening. for being interviewed (if only for 3 minutes) on the radio. for being comfortable enough to spend my entire evening in danish. for those who were more charmed by my accent than offended. for those who came - some who felt a sense of duty to me (thank you!!), but who ended up inspired (thank you!!!). to the nodding and smiles and tears i saw in some eyes. to the beginning of something. something potentially special. and especially for the ideas that i hadn't thought of that already surfaced...words to go with the photos (of COURSE!) and photos already taken over the years. fantastic.

mostly i'm grateful for meeting neighbors and new friends. and the sense of community.

i love putting something out there into the world and seeing what happens. because it's always magical.

edit: i should have noted that this post is actually about the project i described in the previous one.

a community photo project

a lomo photo exhibition i saw in manila inspired my project

in recent months, i've gotten involved in a culture group in my community. funds have been ear-marked for our town to have a new "culture house," of which the only thing that's known is that the library will be part of it. right now, the culture house exists in what was the old city hall (and the library is a few blocks away in another old building). decisions have to be made as to whether that building will be renovated or a new one built. as you may imagine, there are factions on both sides and emotions run high.

me, i don't much care WHERE the events to take place, only THAT they take place, so it's quite easy for me to be dispassionate about it (the same cannot be said for many of the others). what i want is for there to be a big variety of cultural events and classes and activities going on for people of all ages. i got involved to bring new ideas to the table and, because i'm selfish like that, to ensure that there's stuff happening that i want to do!

but first, i'm putting my money where my mouth is - tomorrow evening, i'll present the start of a community photo project. the idea of the project is that anyone and everyone in the community should take photos of their life in our town over the next year. they will then (hopefully) contribute them to a flickr group and in a year, we'll have a lomo-style photo exhibition along the lines of the one i saw one time in manila, featuring everyone's photos. and we'll have documented a year in the life of our little town, as well as, i hope, having made new friends along the way.  i've planned the first photo meet-up, since it's sometimes easier to take pictures in public when you're with other people.

i'm going to kick off the project with some inspiration from my own nearly four years of taking daily photos. until i went through my three (!!) iPhoto libraries to prepare the presentation for this project, i didn't realize that i effectively started taking photos every day when i got my first nikon DSLR in may 2008. i just didn't call it a 365 'til january 1, 2010.

it has been a bit hard for me to narrow down all i want to share about how rewarding i think it is to take photos every day (tho' doing that will not be a requirement for participation in the project). it has also been hard to narrow down which photos i want to show for inspiration. i have a notion that many people think that every photograph has to include people, so i'm going to share some ideas for photos that expand people's photographic horizons...to get them thinking about light and shadows and photographing the same spot at different times of day, in different seasons. i've also included a few of my foot shots, as well as shoe per diem, just to share a bit of my own photo obsessions and prove you don't need faces for a photo to be interesting.

most of all, i love the beginning of a new project. i love the feeling of anticipation, the not knowing what direction it will go or how it will turn out. i even love the butterflies in my stomach over the thought that no one will come (all i need is a few to come). but i also want to make it clear that people can join along the way.  of course, i have some ideas of what i want the exhibition to be like in the end (see above lomo photo), but i also intend to keep an open mind and see what happens. when you put something out there and you involve other people, you never know where it lead. but you have to be willing to see where it will take you.